+ Intro to audio editing Feb. 23, 2015 Tech 4 Journos Hill

+ Audacity Available in Mac or PC version, free: Tutorials available:

+ Audacity e_1.html You can import audio (aka open it in Audacity) several ways: -File>Open - File>Import>Audio - Drag and drop - File>Recent Files/Open Recent, if working off an existing project Strongly recommended: Save a copy of your original audio track before opening and editing it in Audacity. Audacity projects are saved in a format unique to the program (.AUP) until they are exported.

+ Mono vs. Stereo Tracks are audio files. They can be Mono or Stereo: Stereo tracks: Audio files with two different channels (Right and Left) Mono tracks: A single track audio, with sound distributed to both channels For most news broadcasts and for our purposes: Use Mono. Most interviews are done with a mono microphone You can convert stereo recordings to mono. Tracks>Stereo Track to Mono

+ Listening to tracks The wave forms show the sounds on each track. Bigger the wave, louder the sound. Pauses are a straight line. If you want to just listen to one track, mute the others. If you only want listen to one portion, highlight it. Can Adjust by holding shift to add more or trim some. Or make adjustments with the pointy finger. If you want a portion out, highlight and hit delete. Buh-bye! (note that it knits the pieces together. To get a better view, use zoom tool. It’s the magnifying glass under the big I. It lets you “see” the sound better for precise editing. Click on it and the click on the part you’re interested in. There actually are several ways to zoom in and out…

+ Editing! Make sure the selection tool (big I) is lit up. Solo the track you want to listen to.. Like word processing, highlight what you want to edit first. Cut and paste the hilghlghted

+ Organizing your project You’ll likely bring in three or four tracks Interview Natural Sound Voiceover Room tone—have it run under your entire story

+ Other useful tools Fade in/Fade out: Eases your ear into or out of a sound. Use the envelope. Click on it. It will make blue lines you can then Manipulate to fade in and out by hand. Silence: Use this to write over a heavy inhale or exhale in your recording. Highlight the part of the track where you want to generate audio nothingness, and then select Generate > Silence. You can modify the selected period of silence manually, if you are not satisfied with the length of time you highlighted.

+ LAME encoder Before you can export a file in Audacity, you need to download the LAME encoder. This is.mp3 encoding software which allows you to transform your project into a commonly used format – mp3. Go to Download the right one for your OS and Audacity (I got 2.0.6)

+ The important logistics Select the version you need. For Macs with a recent or current version of OSX, it’s the top choice: v or LameLib-Carbon.sit

+ The important logistics Download the.dmg file and a little boxie thing will pop up Double click on the file in your finder or download window.

+ Exporting To export your file once LAME is installed, go to File > Export Audio Name it Pick location to save (where LAME is) Format MP3 Save. You’ll be told it’s mixing down to a single channel. That’s OK.

+ Classwork Download a raw interview tape of mine (.mp3) from the links I sent - Trim the recording to a couple minutes - On a separate/copy of that trimmed recording, isolate a soundbyte - On a copied track of the shortened audio, - Practice using the fade in/out tools - Practice combining tracks

+ Get help at … If you get stuck